Newly-installed
ABC News White House reporter John Donvan asked Clinton:
"Mr. President, in your Inaugural address eight days ago you outlined
some quite lofty goals -- for example, the education proposals you were
speaking about today. But in the days since, many questions in the press
and in Congress have focused on issues like campaign fundraising. My
question is whether you are worried that the well is being poisoned even
now for the realization of these goals before you can get out of the gate,
particularly on the issue of bipartisanship?"

After the press
conference CNN anchor Judy Woodruff demanded of Senator Phil Gramm why the
Republicans were so unforgiving:
"Senator, you said that you don't think there's any comparison in any
other administration with what happened at this White House...And yet the
President acknowledged mistakes were made. He said either deliberately or
inadvertently. He said we're going to find out. He said we're going to
find out exactly which it was. How much more does the President need to
say, to apologize, to say he wants to clear the air or however you want to
put it?"

CNN's Candy
Crowley posed a couple of questions before Woodruff made this query right
out of the Democratic Party talking points booklet:
"Senator Gramm, just one other question. How important is it do you
think that Senator Thompson's committee look equally or proportionately
into what may have been Republican excesses in campaign financing as well
as those on the Democratic side?"

As a salaried
employee I'm not sure how much sympathy I should have for those not paid
more for working a few extra hours. But however wrong it is to not fully
pay hourly wage earners, comparing their plight to "sweat shops
overseas" is just the kind of hype that's leading the public to
mistrust the media.

The next time you
hear someone arguing the networks are controlled by wealthy, conservative
businessmen, remember this effort by Jack Welch to maximize the visibility
of arguably the most liberal network star.

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